A small but determined group of postal workers and supporters will travel to Washington today to stage a four-day hunger strike to protest the U.S. Postal Service’s deteriorating finances and service and Congress’s failure to address the situation.

The strikers will make their stand days before the postal service makes changes that will end overnight delivery of up to 20 percent of the country’s first-class mail, as mail-sorting hubs are shuttered.

The group, Communities and Postal Workers United (http://cpwunited.com/home), formed this spring, with rallies in several cities to protest a range of planned cuts to postal services. Organizers plan to kick off their strike with a 10 a.m. press conference at the Capitol on Monday with Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D- Ohio) the only member of Congress so far who has publicly supported the effort. ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/postal-workers-plan-hunger-strike-to-protest-mail-services-financial-problems/2012/06/22/gJQARUr3vV_blog.html?wprss=federal-eye

SarasotaRepub

06-25-2012, 07:38 AM

Kucinich??? That's all they have????

AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

:biggrin-new::biggrin-new:

Gina

06-25-2012, 08:17 AM

Kucinich??? That's all they have????

AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

:biggrin-new::biggrin-new:

That pretty much means it's doomed! :biggrin-new:

noonwitch

06-25-2012, 10:58 AM

Kucinich??? That's all they have????

AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

:biggrin-new::biggrin-new:

If they are the whack-job postal workers, they probably have semi-automatic weapons.

DumbAss Tanker

06-25-2012, 11:00 AM

the U.S. Postal Service’s deteriorating finances and service and Congress’s failure to address the situation.

Actually a valid point. Conservative pundits love to hate on the postal service, but the private carriers they hold up as examples charge from 10 to 20 time more per item, and the only other comparable government postal systems overseas (I.e., those that you can more-or-less count on not to steal everything valuable or useful from the mail and/or copy it for secret police dossiers) charge around twice as much. The whole thing would probably work swimmingly if postal rates reflected actual costs of operation, and it would still be cheaper than any alternative. Unfortunately, the most broken part of the postal system is that Congress set it up as a theoretically-independent agency, but kept so many strings attached to it that it can't actually operate as one, and so continues to sink financially. The strings are a witches' brew of Congressional motivations that range from wanting it to succeed but wanting to maintain too much control for it to actually work, wanting it to fail on its own and thereby force it back under complete control, and wanting it to mail miserably so privatization+magic=money.

NJCardFan

06-25-2012, 11:22 AM

Hunger strike. Wow, really? Funny considering that there are a few postal workers who could use a hunger strike.

NJCardFan

06-25-2012, 12:23 PM

Actually a valid point. Conservative pundits love to hate on the postal service, but the private carriers they hold up as examples charge from 10 to 20 time more per item, and the only other comparable government postal systems overseas (I.e., those that you can more-or-less count on not to steal everything valuable or useful from the mail and/or copy it for secret police dossiers) charge around twice as much. The whole thing would probably work swimmingly if postal rates reflected actual costs of operation, and it would still be cheaper than any alternative. Unfortunately, the most broken part of the postal system is that Congress set it up as a theoretically-independent agency, but kept so many strings attached to it that it can't actually operate as one, and so continues to sink financially. The strings are a witches' brew of Congressional motivations that range from wanting it to succeed but wanting to maintain too much control for it to actually work, wanting it to fail on its own and thereby force it back under complete control, and wanting it to mail miserably so privatization+magic=money.

Private carriers charge more and are more efficient. If I needed something to be somewhere tomorrow, I would never use the USPS Express Mail. Even though you're paying a higher rate and they claim to be a next day service, their small print says that they cannot guarantee overnight delivery. FedEX however does guarantee overnight delivery. Don't get me wrong, boondoggle or not, the USPS does a great job with the mail for the most part, it's still sucking money thanks in part for it being a government operation.

Zeus

06-25-2012, 01:08 PM

Actually a valid point. Conservative pundits love to hate on the postal service, but the private carriers they hold up as examples charge from 10 to 20 time more per item, and the only other comparable government postal systems overseas (I.e., those that you can more-or-less count on not to steal everything valuable or useful from the mail and/or copy it for secret police dossiers) charge around twice as much. The whole thing would probably work swimmingly if postal rates reflected actual costs of operation, and it would still be cheaper than any alternative. Unfortunately, the most broken part of the postal system is that Congress set it up as a theoretically-independent agency, but kept so many strings attached to it that it can't actually operate as one, and so continues to sink financially. The strings are a witches' brew of Congressional motivations that range from wanting it to succeed but wanting to maintain too much control for it to actually work, wanting it to fail on its own and thereby force it back under complete control, and wanting it to mail miserably so privatization+magic=money.

The USPS is it's own worst enemy. Remember awhile back when the post office announced it was shutting down certain post offices as a "cost savings measure". Well Temple , Texas had 2 post offices so they shut one down. One was non union and operating in the black the other was union and operating in the red. Take a guess at which one they closed.

Odysseus

06-25-2012, 05:46 PM

Actually a valid point. Conservative pundits love to hate on the postal service, but the private carriers they hold up as examples charge from 10 to 20 time more per item, and the only other comparable government postal systems overseas (I.e., those that you can more-or-less count on not to steal everything valuable or useful from the mail and/or copy it for secret police dossiers) charge around twice as much. The whole thing would probably work swimmingly if postal rates reflected actual costs of operation, and it would still be cheaper than any alternative. Unfortunately, the most broken part of the postal system is that Congress set it up as a theoretically-independent agency, but kept so many strings attached to it that it can't actually operate as one, and so continues to sink financially. The strings are a witches' brew of Congressional motivations that range from wanting it to succeed but wanting to maintain too much control for it to actually work, wanting it to fail on its own and thereby force it back under complete control, and wanting it to mail miserably so privatization+magic=money.

Privatization would probably increase prices, but the resulting improvements in service from competition would be worth it (the USPS has a monopoly on regular mail by law, and it's become their worst service).

Hunger strike. Wow, really? Funny considering that there are a few postal workers who could use a hunger strike.

They were going to do a work slowdown, but nobody would have noticed. :evil-grin:

The USPS is it's own worst enemy. Remember awhile back when the post office announced it was shutting down certain post offices as a "cost savings measure". Well Temple , Texas had 2 post offices so they shut one down. One was non union and operating in the black the other was union and operating in the red. Take a guess at which one they closed.

When did you live in Temple? We were there for four years while I was assigned to Hood.

I agree with you about the USPS being its own worst enemy. I did some freelance work for a company that used to let us pick up our checks in the office, but changed their policy after some of the freelancers failed to pick theirs up for several weeks. Then, everyone had to get theirs in the mail. The first one that they mailed to me arrived torn in half. I brought it to the post office and explained that the bank wouldn't accept it in that condition and that I needed the other half in order to deposit it, and asked what it would take for them to deliver my mail in one piece. Their response was less than impressive, but my bosses took one look at the shredded check and agreed that they would hold checks for a week before mailing if asked to.

Elspeth

06-25-2012, 06:31 PM

Actually a valid point. Conservative pundits love to hate on the postal service, but the private carriers they hold up as examples charge from 10 to 20 time more per item, and the only other comparable government postal systems overseas (I.e., those that you can more-or-less count on not to steal everything valuable or useful from the mail and/or copy it for secret police dossiers) charge around twice as much. The whole thing would probably work swimmingly if postal rates reflected actual costs of operation, and it would still be cheaper than any alternative. Unfortunately, the most broken part of the postal system is that Congress set it up as a theoretically-independent agency, but kept so many strings attached to it that it can't actually operate as one, and so continues to sink financially. The strings are a witches' brew of Congressional motivations that range from wanting it to succeed but wanting to maintain too much control for it to actually work, wanting it to fail on its own and thereby force it back under complete control, and wanting it to mail miserably so privatization+magic=money.

Great post!

Elspeth

06-25-2012, 06:36 PM

Don't get me wrong, boondoggle or not, the USPS does a great job with the mail for the most part, it's still sucking money thanks in part for it being a government operation.

Actually, USPS has overpaid its pension plans by some 11.6 billion and that money could easily be put back in to handle operating expenses. It's CONGRESS that's screwing this one up. (What else is new?)

The Senate and the House are both epic fails on this issue.

Zeus

06-25-2012, 08:42 PM

When did you live in Temple? We were there for four years while I was assigned to Hood.

Never have, been in Copperas Cove for 20 + yrs. Do a lot of business in Temple.

JB

06-25-2012, 08:52 PM

to stage a four-day hunger strike Bobby Sands shakes his head in disgust. Four days????? Give me a break.

DumbAss Tanker

06-26-2012, 07:06 PM

NJCadrdFan, Ody, I guess it depends on what you mean by "Efficient." To me it is a combination of speed plus price, not just speed at any price. By and large speed of delivery isn't the big issue people have with USPS, it's the fact that it operates at a loss, for reasons (And accounting methods) over which USPS has no real control, and which pretty much boil down to all the Congresional 'Help' they get. I didn't mention security, because my experience with USPS, UPS, and FedEx has been roughly the same for all of them, which is not to say 'Perfect.'

Next day delivery is a real premium service, there is nothing wrong with paying three to five times as much for UPS Next Day Air vs. USPS Express Mail if you are so inclined, but without comparing loss and on-time delivery rates with real numbers, it's kind of fanciful to claim the one that costs five times more is 'More efficient' just because it costs more, and even then I wouldn't assume that issues of scale might not play a role pro or con.

I hate to break this to you guys, but UPS and FedEx occasionally screw the pooch too. And just like FedEx or UPS guys who monkey with the deliveries, USPS personnel get fired for that too. I've been using Priority Mail (+Delivery confirmation) for business purposes for several years, and haven't ever had a shipment come up missing to include stuff sent to Canada, Australia, and the UK. For me, FedEx and UPS are fine for incoming shipments (If ridiculously expensive in the latter case), but inaccessible and uneconomical to the point of uselessness for anything outbound.